In this installment of the ‘Agronometrics In Charts’ series, Sarah Ilyas studies the state of the Chilean cherry industry. Each week the series looks at a different horticultural commodity, focusing on a specific origin or topic visualizing the market factors that are driving change.

Over the past decade, Chile has witnessed steady growth in its cherry production, driven by the crop's profitability and robust demand. According to the USDA, for the marketing year (MY) 2024/25, Chile’s cherry production is projected to reach 500,000 metric tons (MT), representing a 6.8 percent increase over the previous year.

This growth is expected despite the challenges faced in MY 2023/24, where a warm winter and rainy spring led to a slight 0.2 percent decrease in production. The adverse climatic conditions impacted cherry yields, demonstrating the delicate balance required in agricultural production.

However, the outlook for MY 2024/25 is more optimistic, with favorable winter rainfall and sufficiently low temperatures, which are crucial for cherry development.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.

(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

In addition to the overall increase in production, Chile's cherry export volume is forecast to rise by 7.6 percent, reaching 445,000 MT in MY 2024/25. This anticipated growth underscores Chile's strategic focus on expanding its presence in the global cherry market, particularly in China.

The expansion of cherry orchards has been a significant factor in this growth. In MY 2024/25, the area planted with cherries is expected to reach 67,000 hectares (HA), a 5.5 percent increase from the previous year. The Maule and O’Higgins regions, located in central Chile, are the top cherry-producing areas, accounting for 43.8 percent and 36.2 percent of the total planted area, respectively. These regions offer ideal conditions for cherry cultivation, including sufficient winter chill hours, adequate water for irrigation, and minimal frost risk during the spring.

As the export volume continues to rise, the pressure on Chilean producers and exporters to meet harvest and packing demands intensifies. Both stages are critical for ensuring high-quality cherries that can withstand the journey to distant markets. Given the delicate nature of cherries, which are prone to damage from handling and high temperatures, the packing process has been largely automated to minimize physical harm to the fruit. Producers and exporters are making concerted efforts to streamline the harvest and packing processes to ensure the cherries are ready for export as quickly as possible.

Maintaining consistent quality is another significant challenge for the Chilean cherry export industry. As the production area expands each year, ensuring that the quality of the cherries meets international standards becomes increasingly difficult.

The Chilean exporting industry is actively collaborating with producers and exporters to uphold these quality standards, which are crucial for maintaining the high prices Chilean cherries command in the global market.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.

(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

In our ‘In Charts’ series, we work to tell some of the stories that are moving the industry. Feel free to take a look at the other articles by clicking here.

All pricing for domestic US produce represents the spot market at Shipping Point (i.e. packing house/climate controlled warehouse, etc.). For imported fruit, the pricing data represents the spot market at Port of Entry.

You can keep track of the markets daily through Agronometrics, a data visualization tool built to help the industry make sense of the huge amounts of data that professionals need to access to make informed decisions. If you found the information and the charts from this article useful, feel free to visit us at www.agronometrics.com where you can easily access these same graphs, or explore the other 21 commodities we currently track.